Worldwide Effects of Nuclear War

Radioactive Fallout

Probably the most serious threat is Cesium-137, a Gamma emitter with a half-life of
30 years. It is a major source of radiation in nuclear fallout, and since it parallels
Potassium chemistry, it is readily taken into the blood of animals and men and may be
incorporated into tissue.

Other hazards include Strontium-90, an electron emitter with a half-life of 28 years and
is a bone-seeker. It may also become lodged in the lungs, where its intense local
radiation can cause cancer or other damage. Strontium-90 follows calcium chemistry,
so it is readily incorporated into the bones and teeth, particularly of young children who
have received milk from cows consuming contaminated forage.

Iodine-131 is a similar threat to infants and children because of its concentration in the
thyroid gland. Iodine-131 has a half-life of only 8 days.

In addition, there is Plutonium-239 which decays through emission of an Alpha particle

(Helium Nucleus) and has a half-life of 24,000 years and is frequently used in nuclear
explosives.

To the extent that hydrogen fusion contributes to the explosive force of a weapon, two
other radionuclides will be released: Tritium (Hydrogen-3), an electron emitter with a
half-life of 12 years, and Carbon-14, an electron emitter with a half-life of 5,730 years.
Both are taken up through the food cycle and readily incorporated in organic matter.

Three types of radiation damage may occur: 1) bodily damage (mainly leukemia and
cancers of the thyroid, lung, breast, bone, and gastrointestinal tract); 2) genetic damage
(birth defects and constitutional and degenerative diseases due to gonadal damage
suffered by parents); 3) and development and growth damage (primarily growth and
mental retardation of unborn infants and young children).

Since heavy radiation doses of about 20 roentgen or more (see "Radioactivity" note) are
necessary to produce developmental defects, these effects would probably be confined
to areas of heavy local fallout in the nuclear combatant nations and would not become a
global problem

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